AMD Ryzen 9 5980HS vs Intel Core i5-12600HX vs Intel Core i9-12950HX

AMD Ryzen 9 5980HS

The AMD Ryzen 9 5980HS is a processor for big (gaming) laptops based on the Cezanne generation. The R9 5980HS integrates all eight cores based on the Zen 3 microarchitecture. They are clocked at 3 GHz (guaranteed base clock) to 4.8 GHz (Turbo) and support SMT / Hyperthreading (16 threads). The chip is manufactured on the modern 7 nm process at TSMC. Compared to the 5980HX (up to 54 W), the 5980HS is configured to a TDP of 35W and offers a 300 MHz reduced base speed.

The new Zen 3 microarchitecture offers a significantly higher IPC (instructions per clock) compared to Zen 2. For desktop processors AMD claims 19 percent on average and in applications reviews showed around 12% gains at the same clock speed.

With the increased clock speed and IPC improvements thanks to Zen 3, the Ryzen 9 5980HS should be clearly faster than the lower clocked Ryzen 9 4900H.

In addition to the eight CPU cores, the APU also integrates a Radeon RX Vega 8 integrated graphics card with 8 CUs and up to 2100 MHz. The dual channel memory controller supports DDR4-3200 and energy efficient LPDDR4-4266 RAM. Furthermore, 16 MB level 3 cache can be found on the chip.

The TDP of the APU is specified at 35 Watt and therefore suited for smaller laptops than the 5980HX (35 - 52W, default 45W).

Intel Core i5-12600HX

The Intel Core i5-12600HX is a upper mid-range mobile CPU for laptops based on the Alder Lake-S chip. It was announced in mid 2022 and offers 4 of the 8 performance cores (P-cores, Golden Cove architecture) and 8 efficient cores (E-cores, Gracemont architecture). The P-cores support Hyper-Threading leading to 16 supported threads when combined with the E-cores. The clock rate ranges from 2.5 to 4.6 GHz on the performance cluster and 1.8 to 3.3 GHz on the efficiency cluster. The performance of the E-cores should be similar to old Skylake cores (compare with the Core i7-6920HQ). All cores can use up to 18 MB L3 cache. The CPU supports vPro and ECC memory and is therefore a successor to the mobile Xeon CPUs.

Performance

While we have not tested a single system built around the 12600HX as of August 2023, we have tested several systems featuring the i5-12500H, a CPU with similar specs (4 P-cores mated to 8 E-cores, all running at pretty much the same clock speeds as what the 12600HX has). Based on that, expect the 12600HX to be very close to the Ryzen 9 6900HS, Ryzen 9 6900HX and also the Core i7-12650H, as far as multi-thread benchmark scores are concerned.

Your mileage may vary depending on how competent the cooling solution of your laptop is and how high the CPU power limits are.

Features

The integrated memory controller supports various memory types up to DDR5-4800 and DDR4-3200. The Thread Director (in hardware) can support the operating system to decide which thread to use on the performance or efficient cores for the best performance. For AI tasks, the CPU also integrates GNA 3.0 and DL Boost (via AVX2). Quick Sync in version 8 is the same as in the Rocket Lake CPUs and supports MPEG-2, AVC, VC-1 decode, JPEG, VP8 decode, VP9, HEVC, and AV1 decode in hardware. The CPU supports 48 PCIe lanes consisting of 16 Gen5 (x16 or 2x8), 20 Gen4 and 12 Gen3.

The integrated graphics card is based on the Xe-architecture and offers 32 EUs (Execution Units) operating at up to 1.35 GHz.

The CPU is rated at 55 W base power (157 W PL2). The SoC is manufactured on a 10nm process at Intel, which is known as Intel 7.

Intel Core i9-12950HX

The Intel Core i9-12950HX is a high-end mobile CPU for laptops based on the Alder Lake architecture. It was announced in mid 2022 and offers 8 performance cores (P-cores, Golden Cove architecture) and 8 efficient cores (E-cores, Gracemont architecture). The P-cores support Hyper-Threading leading to 24 supported threads when combined with the E-cores. The clock rate ranges from 2.3 to 5 GHz on the performance cluster and 1.7 to 3.6 GHz on the efficiency cluster. The performance of the E-cores should be similar to old Skylake cores (compare with the Core i7-6920HQ). All cores can use up to 30 MB L3 cache. As a HX-variant, the CPU offers an open multiplicator and therefore the possibility to overclock the CPU cores. Compared to the similar i9-12900HX, the 12950HX supports vPro and ECC memory (successor of the Xeon line) but the CPU overclocking is limited.

Features

The integrated memory controller supports various memory types up to DDR5-4800 and DDR4-3200. The Thread Director (in hardware) can support the operating system to decide which thread to use on the performance or efficient cores for the best performance. For AI tasks, the CPU also integrates GNA 3.0 and DL Boost (via AVX2). Quick Sync in version 8 is the same as in the Rocket Lake CPUs and supports MPEG-2, AVC, VC-1 decode, JPEG, VP8 decode, VP9, HEVC, and AV1 decode in hardware. The CPU supports 48 PCIe lanes consisting of 16 Gen5 (x16 or 2x8), 20 Gen4 and 12 Gen3.

The integrated graphics adapter is based on the Xe-architecture and offers 32 EUs (Execution Units) operating at up to 1.55 GHz.

Performance

The average 12950HX in our database is in the same league as the Core i7-13650HX, Core i7-13700HX, Core i9-13900HK, as far as multi-thread benchmark scores are concerned. This is a very fast chip, as of early 2023.

Thanks to its decent cooling solution and a long-term CPU power limit of 82 W, the ThinkPad P16 G1 is among the fastest laptops built around the 12950HX that we know of. It can be 30% faster in CPU-bound workloads than the slowest system featuring the same chip in our database, as of August 2023.

Power consumption

The chip's "minimum assured" power consumption is 45 W. Its Turbo power consumption is not supposed to go over 157 W and its Base power consumption is supposed to be around 55 W. Most laptop makers will probably go for a higher value than 55 W to get better performance.

The i9-12950HX is built with Intel's 4th generation 10 nm process marketed as Intel 7 for average, as of early 2023, energy efficiency.